


We were never meant to last

by Kitexa



Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Drabble, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-19
Updated: 2012-12-19
Packaged: 2017-11-21 14:54:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/599035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kitexa/pseuds/Kitexa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Whatever they were, he knows it's over now. So many things left unsaid; silent pleas lost in the wake of responsibility.</p>
            </blockquote>





	We were never meant to last

The moment the bullet struck him, he knew it was over.

Before—the growing cold as their journey progressed, the bloody helmet keeping him out of the older man’s head. He’d thought, Charles did, that maybe…maybe with Shaw’s death…maybe he’d see the need for violence, war, had no place and likewise, maybe… he’d see that option—that peace—was a perfectly viable substitute to fiery rage. Sooth the burn, heal the scars…learn from your wounds and start anew.

But Erik didn’t want to start over.

He didn’t want peace. (You know that, you KNOW that, Charles, what were you thinking?)

 _I wasn’t_ , he thinks, through tears and shock and _painpainPAIN_ splintering up his spine. _I wasn’t thinking, I should have been, I’ve sat inside his head, I KNOW—_

“GGH!”

Someone shifts, rolls him over and Erik’s bright blue eyes stare down through that ruddy metal casing; Charles doesn’t need it to feel the horror rolling off him. He’s always had such expressive eyes. _Horrorfeardisbeliefdenial this can’t have been my fault, it CAN’T be—_

But it is, of course. No amount of senseless (always the first reaction; you really should have seen this, Charles) death will rectify that wrong (any wrong, really, but he’s in no position to correct the man’s M.O)

He can, however, prevent further bloodshed. It hurts—FUCK does it hurt—but he paws the older man’s chest, half-begging, half-scolding; “She didn’t do this, Erik. You did.”

He doesn’t see at first—rage, so much rage—but when he does…when he looks back at the man cradled in his arms, when those blue, blue eyes meet his watered gaze…Charles knows Erik understands. 

This, them, whatever they were, can’t continue any further.

They’ve crossed a line, and there’s no going back.

“We want the same thing.” Erik whispers and the gnawing ache in Charles’ heart dulls to a prickling numbness. _I do_ , Charles cries, aware it won’t be heard. Chess games over bourbon, long talks, flirtatious (it was, wasn’t it? He thought so, once…) banter back and forth…shoulder pats and shining eyes and tearful smiles…  
 _Come back with me._

Another tear slides down his cheek. _Come back with me._ “My friend…” croaks the telepath, “I’m sorry…” _Come back._ “…but we do not.”

 _Don’t leave me, Erik._

He will. He does, handing Charles to the woman he’d nearly killed, and stands with those who tried to kill him.

_We were going to change the world._

Maybe they still can. Mold it, shape it for the better, change it for worse…whatever roads they’re destined to travel will run parallel but never meet. 

_Come back…_

Above him, there’s talk of hospitals, caution and—

Nothing. The pain ceases, stealing away mobility and whatever threads he’d had left. 

Nothing outside, nothing in.

_…Good-bye, Erik…_

**Author's Note:**

> One of these days, I'll write something longer than a drabble. 
> 
> One day.
> 
> *The dialogue spoken between Erik and Charles is directly from the film. I do not claim any ownership over it.


End file.
